They are only a year old. They may not be in their infant stages anymore. They may be mature, but locks change all the time, even when they are fully mature. They look fine. When you look at them in the mirror and even out of the corner of your eyes, you are seeing them much much closer than anyone else is seeing them. Of course you see more loose hairs. Locks never end up completely smooth unless you use wax or other products to glue them down.

In time they will get sucked into the lock. But then again, when that happens, other will get squeezed out. It's an ever changing cycle.

As for the tips, what don't you like about them? They should be wispy like that. Clean and blunt tips hold water in and take 8-12 more hours to dry. This can lead to mold and mildew.

Stop any maintenance. All that maintenance just damages your locks. Crocheting rips your hairs into smaller and smaller pieces. In time the hairs at the tip of your locks will not be connected at all to your scalp. They will be connected to other broken hairs attached to others and others until they finally attach to your scalp. This weakens your locks so much that they can snap off just from their own weight. Crocheting also over tightens your hairs and can cause traction alopecia. This will lead to baldness if continued. Crocheting, because it over tightens your hair so much, also traps more water inside for longer. It can cause molding and mildew since the water has nowhere to go.

Twisting, also causes traction alopecia. Every time you twist, you are ripping hairs out of the roots. Just a few at a time. But over time, you can twist a lock right off. Ripping those hairs out at the root will also just cause more loose hairs that you feel need to be maintained.

Root flipping is bad because it winds your hair around itself. Instead of it tangling and knotting, where there is some bounce andsponginess to your lock, this makes them taught and unable to move. They will have a constant weaved look that will never go away. it also weaken syour locks just like crocheting does.

Just let them be. There is no reason to fix the hair at your root. It has to be there. As your locks grow longer, the new growth will need something to tangle and knot to. That's where the loose hairs come in. If you were to control every hair, or even a lot of them, your new growth would have nothing to snag, and they would grow in thinner and thinner. Eventually, you'd have a thick lock attached to a very thin root system. They would not be able to sustain the weight, and will just fall off themselves.

Also, those loose hairs protect your scalp from getting sunburned. When you separate your locks, you don't want to do it all the way to your scalp. Just enough so, that the body of the locks are not attached. They should always, always, be in a constant state of semi combined at your scalp

Really, you could do it either way. But if you were to apply it directly, it could be tricky. It's easier to use it in a spray bottle. In that case, you may as well just mix it with the other oils. Also, the other oils will do more for your flakes and dandruff than the jojoba will alone

Those bumps are good. They are loops forming. It means that your locks are tangling right along and knotting in on themselves. It's a good sign. Don't do anything to them. As they mature, they will disappear and just turn into texture on your locks

I always use teatree and rosemary. Teatree is great for scalp health and helps get rid of and prevents dandruff. Rosemary is good for promoting growth and thickness. I also add peppermint. Just a few drops. But it has great cooling and soothing effects. It'll help keep them from itching in between washes. Every once in a while I add Lavender or sage for aromatherapy. They have other benefits, but I don't need them for those.